DAVAO CITY, Philippines—In March 2012, members of Girl Scouts of the Philippines Troop No. 228 in Sta. Teresa Elementary School in Barangay Magnaga in Pantukan town, Compostela Valley, started a cleanup project in their area.
The girl scouts cut grass, repaired and painted the community hall with barely any tools but with an effort that has drawn the attention of a big company.
“It started with a simple beautification project,” said Brenlyn Bano, teacher and the school’s scout troop leader.
Officials of the mining firm King-king Copper-Gold Project took notice and offered financial support for a bigger undertaking.
“We saw that it was no longer a mere girl scouting activity but more of a reformation within the community,” Jonathan Bañez, community development manager of the company, said in a statement.
With the financial support, Bano said parents helped their daughters turn a half-hectare lot beside the community hall into a vegetable farm.
Aside from vegetable farming, they also ventured into vermiculture. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao